May 27 (Reuters) - FIGS Inc's shares jumped nearly 29% in their market debut on Thursday, valuing the company at $4.57 billion, indicating robust investor interest after the maker of medical scrubs, face masks and shields saw a jump in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The shares opened at $28.30 each, up from the offer price of $22 each, in what was the first listing to be included on Robinhood's platform which will give retail investors the opportunity to buy shares in initial public offerings.
FIGS makes medical apparel aimed at combining style with comfort, sold under the tagline, "why wear scrubs, when you can #wearFIGS?"
FIGS sells scrubs in different styles including "skinny scrub" pants and "oversized" scrub tops and those with multiple pockets in colors such as royal blue, teal and bright red and facemasks with patterns featuring cats, pandas and kisses.
The company's revenue jumped 138% in 2020, as it ramped up production to meet the needs of healthcare professionals on the frontline of the pandemic.
On Wednesday, FIGS priced its upsized offering of more than 26 million of its Class A shares far above its range, to raise $580.5 million.
About 1% of those shares were reserved for retail investors on Robinhood.
"We were very focused on going public the traditional way... and we even partnered with Robinhood because we wanted to give healthcare professionals access to invest in the IPO," co-founder Trina Spear said.
Spear and Heather Hasson, the other co-founder, said they plan on using the funds to invest in designing new products, marketing and data analytics.
FIGS is backed by Tulco LLC, an investment firm led by billionaire businessman Thomas Tull. In the past, actor Will Smith was also an investor in FIGS.
Goldman Sachs & Co, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Barclays and BofA Securities are among underwriters for the offering. (Reporting by Niket Nishant, Arunima Kumar and Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni and Shailesh Kuber)
